Jan. 6, 1923 – Quincy’s Tommy “Whitey” Fleming scores for J&P Coats

Today in NE Soccer History

Jan. 6, 1923 – Bethlehem Steel 1×1 J&P Coats – duel between ASL’s top two scorers

Tommy “Whitey” Fleming (22 goals) scores for Coats, a Daniel McNiven (28 goals) penalty kick equalizing late in the opening half. According to the 1/7/23 editions of The Boston Globe: Fleming capitalized on a failed clearance and “drove the ball into the net with (Findlay) Kerr having no chance to save.” Fleming “one of the outstanding wingers of his day,” according to Colin Jose’s The American Soccer League: The Golden Years of American Soccer, was 17 years old when he arrived from Ayshire to play for the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy (clubhouse and playing field still standing, btw). Fleming went on to win four U.S. Open Cups and ASL titles with Bethlehem Steel (1921-22) and Coats (1922-23), then played for the Boston Wonder Workers, and was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Fleming settled in the Fore River area and coached the Quincy High School soccer team.